Echometrix expands leadership team and strengthens board as company’s first patents issue

WARF licensee prepares to introduce its first product in coming 12 months

MADISON, Wis. — Echometrix, which is developing new ways to diagnose the severity and measure the healing progress of musculoskeletal injuries, has expanded its leadership team and strengthened its board of directors as it prepares to roll out its first products in 2011.

Meanwhile, two patents covering the company’s core technology have been issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.  

Echometrix has appointed Hirohito Kobayashi, a company co-founder and co-inventor of the key technologies, to the position of chief technology officer. Kobayashi holds a doctorate in engineering mechanics and will lead development and commercialization of Echometrix’s first product. He also will continue to oversee his complementary clinical research in the Ray Vanderby laboratory at Wisconsin’s Institutes for Medical Research.

The startup company also has added two experienced executives from the medical device industry to its board of directors. Shawn Guse currently serves as chief executive officer of Compact Particle Acceleration Corp., Madison, and was previously an executive at Tomotherapy. Elizabeth Holland, a medical products consultant from the Chicago area, has more than 25 years of global leadership experience in the medical device and pharmaceutical industries at companies including GE Healthcare and Abbott Laboratories.

Sam Adams, chief executive officer for Echometrix, said the additions to the board and the management team will ensure the company has the talent and experienced counsel it needs to successfully launch its initial product, EchoSoft, in the months ahead. EchoSoft technology analyzes previously unused information carried by ultrasound waves to quantify the extent of muscle and ligament injuries or a patient’s progress in the healing process.

 “Shawn Guse and Elizabeth Holland are two leaders in our industry who will provide critical guidance on our board of directors as Echometrix enters its next stage of growth,’’ Adams said. “At the same time, the formal addition of Hirohito Kobayashi to the management team will accelerate our technology development and clinical research while supporting the successful commercialization of EchoSoft.”   

The novel technology behind EchoSoft applies the theory of acoustoelasticity to measure biological materials and was developed by Kobayashi and Ray Vanderby, a professor of orthopedics and rehabilitation at UW–Madison’s School of Medicine and Public Health. The technology was assigned to the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and licensed exclusively to Echometrix.

WARF’s intellectual property team led the patenting efforts for the technology and in recent weeks, the U.S. patent office has issued two patents covering the methods and apparatus to provide improved ultrasonic strain measurements and extract data quantifying the strain and material properties of soft tissue. Adams said the EchoSoft technology applies the theory of acoustoelasticity to create precise, low-cost measurements of physical function and rehabilitation progress following musculoskeletal injury.

“EchoSoft is the first ultrasound-based product to provide a quantitative analysis of ligaments, tendons and muscles as they naturally function.’’ Adams said. “The result is a clear, quantitative measurement that surpasses the diagnostic capabilities of a traditional ultrasound image. Potential musculoskeletal applications include arthritis evaluations, sports medicine, workplace rehabilitation and military use.’’

For example, Adams said, EchoSoft will be able to help athletes and their doctors determine the difference between inflammation and a partial tear, which will create more effective outcomes following rehabilitation. For soldiers and those with workplace injuries, EchoSoft will measure the healing process to help determine when healing is complete and a return to duty is safe. EchoSoft also can be used in conjunction with portable, hand-held ultrasound equipment, giving it a functional advantage in the field or in an outpatient setting.

Echometrix is currently obtaining customer feedback on its prototypes, executing clinical studies and preparing for submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for 510(k) premarket notification clearance. For more information, please visit www.echo-metrix.com.

About WARF

Since its founding in 1925 to manage a UW–Madison discovery that eventually eliminated the childhood disease rickets, WARF has been working with industry to transform university research into products that benefit society. As a private, nonprofit organization, WARF accomplishes its mission of supporting scientific research by patenting and licensing inventions arising from university discoveries. Since making its first grant of $1,200 in 1928, WARF has contributed more than $1 billion to UW–Madison through annual "margin of excellence'' grants and other funding.

                                                                         --30—30—30--

Contact:
Sam Adams, CEO
sadams@echo-metrix.com
(608) 217-2685

Jennifer Sereno, WARF
jsereno@warf.org
(608) 770-8084

Tags: